Back on Nebulos Lug was an all-star athlete, now he's moved up to the role of coach. Specifically coaching his normally scatter-brained and panic-prone Headmaster partner Hosehead in making calm, quick, and correct decisions in a crisis. His experience on the field serves him well, but still it's a work in progress.

Fiction
Marvel Comics continuity
Events from the UK-only comic stories are in italics.
Not exactly a starring role.

Under unrevealed circumstances, Lug was binary-bonded to Hosehead, and then taken prisoner by the Decepticons on Cybertron. As a field test for the new Decepticon lord Thunderwing, Lug and Hosehead were released free on Earth alongside their fellow prisoners Playback and Horsepower. Thunderwing was to hunt down and execute them in an uncontrolled environment. When Nightbeat and Siren arrived to investigate Playback's corpse, Lug at first feared the two were more Decepticons sent to finish them off. However, this misunderstanding was cleared up, and along with Nightbeat and Siren they bested Thunderwing with their wits. Afterwards, Lug and Hosehead joined the Ark's crew. The Big Shutdown!
Though this is the first and only time Lug made an individual appearance, see Hosehead's article for appearances of Lug as Hosehead's noggin.
Classics

Lug's partner Hosehead was destroyed in the battle against Unicron, and it was three days before anyone found him. Luckily, even though his torso was crushed and he was shrouded in complete sensory blackout, he survived due to his physical fitness. After he made a recovery, he was loaned a ship to Nebulos, but he was an outcast there. His time at war, visually obvious due to his physical scarring, ostracized him from his peers. After a few years, he was picked up by Nightbeat and Siren, who were putting together a team of their own. Lug's Classics profile Their team also included Muzzle and Quig, and the disgruntled Dinobots Sludge and Slag. Oh, and this new chick. While out in space, they were forced to set their ship down on the planet Azure for repairs crash their ship into the only repair bay on Azure equipped to repair their ship.
Lug loves Wii Fit.

Nightbeat found that he was a person of interest to a potential client, a sentient ship named Amory, but not before Lug and the others battled her hired "thugs". Amory required the services of Nightbeat and his team in finding her pilot, Phyrion. Lug and the other humans pored over the evidence, but they could find no lead. Ultimately, the entire arrangement was revealed to be a setup put together by the Decepticons Ruckus and Needlenose, who had assembled an alleged "new Mayhem Attack Squad" by promising payment to Octopunch and Stranglehold for their assistance. Ruckus wasn't very smart, however, and had brought his hostage with him. The Decepticons were brutalized and Phyrion was returned to Amory. Regretting her involvement, Amory paid the Autobots for her services.

Despite their short run-in with good luck, Lug and the rest were still stranded on Azure without a working ship. In the meantime, surely someone was in need of a detective… Cheap Shots
Ladybird continuity
Cambo humps Highbrow's leg.

On Nebulos, Highbrow was captured by the Decepticons, so Optimus Prime, Fizzle, Hosehead, and Cambo rode out to rescue him.

Out in the mountains, Fizzle and Hosehead discovered Highbrow, but he did not react when they called him, or even when they threw rocks at him. Cambo went in to investigate and discovered an immobilization device attached to Highbrow's back. Cambo managed to remove it, thus saving the day. Autobot Hostage
Toys
Generation 1
The helmet is for when Nightbeat hits him

Lug transforms into part of Hosehead's head, with the vehicle mode's "chair" and the hood's photon pistols forming the rest. When Lug is connected, folding down a flip-down panel on Hosehead's chest uncovers a spring-loaded mini-Tech-Spec-meter which gives readings for Speed, Strength and Intelligence. The tumblers are activated when Lug (or any other Headmaster unit) is plugged into his neck socket. Lug has Hosehead's face plainly visible on his back because, as a smaller Headmaster toy, he lacks the flip-down panel that covers the face, featured on larger Headmasters
In "Cheap Shots", Lug is established as the second known black Nebulan. The first known (and only known, for twenty years) was fellow "small" Headmaster partner, Brisko.http://zarconian.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Red_Sector_A_ONhttp://zarconian-empire.wikispot.org/Front_Page